Women to Watch Greater China 2023: Echo Li , Sportfive

Echo Li

Greater China CEO and global SVP 
Sportfive
Shanghai

Echo Li has a tall list of achievements. She is the youngest regional leader of Sportfive, a firm she helped enter and grow in the Greater China market, built a team from scratch and ensured they achieve a whopping 500% growth in five years. 

In not just business numbers, her stellar leadership speaks for itself in Sportfive’s shining client list as well. Boasting top sports IPs, from F1 to Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United F.C. to Los Angeles Lakers, Li has overseen Sportfive’s collaborations with over 100 multi-dimensional sports IP resources as an exclusive agency and over 120 international and regional partnerships for both domestic and international brands. 

With the support of Sportfive and Li, Chinese brands stand out at global sports events. One of her most commendable achievements was brokering a four-year deal for Oppo and Boston Athletic Association (for the Boston Marathon) from 2020 to 2023. The deal helped the smartphone brand not only penetrate the US market but also become the first Chinese smartphone brand to work with the UEFA Champions League. 

As consumer electronics brand Hisense’s creative marketing agency for the FIFA World Cup 2022, Li’s team orchestrated the “Perfect Match Tour” at Qatar, an all inclusive campaign for football lovers on-site as well as social media. 

Outside of work, Li is committed to giving back to cultivating local talent. She regularly takes guest lectures in mainland’s top educational institutes nurturing young talent and raising the bar for the sports marketing education in the country. Her goal is to create a work environment that supports upskilling, innovation and constant growth. In tune with that she introduced the Carnegie leadership training programme for the management, a global marketing talent exchange programme and another sports business executive training programme for the company.  

A winner of several awards for her work in the sports marketing sector in Greater China, Li’s top honours include but are not limited to Harvard Business Review (Chinese version) 2022 Ram Charan Management Practice Award and a member of Campaign Asia’s class of 40 Under 40 in 2020.